Magnetic Island

Just before leaving Bowen our car started to make some weird noises and we called for a mechanic.  Turns out the noise was our cracked radiator hissing in despair.  To make things better, we couldn’t bring the car in for repairs until we spoke with the central rental office which had closed less than an hour before for the day, so we filled the car up with water best we could and made our way to the nearest holiday park.  The next day the garage and rental office had to co-ordinate the location and transportation of a replacement radiator which wasn’t to arrive until the following day, but something fantastic did come out of it for us…they put us up in a nearby motel! Yup, all the creature comforts we’d been missing on the road were suddenly at our disposal, Wi-Fi included!.  I had no idea how much I’d missed a kitchen sink until then! We set sail about midday the next day, clean from a hot water shower and computer loaded with podcasts.  I guess life is all about balance :)

From Bowen we plunged even deeper into Far North Queensland, arriving a few hours later in its regional capital of Townsville.  Townsville itself isn’t much of an interesting city - it’s most notable characteristic is the large red sandstone hill rising precipitously just beyond the city center called Castle Hill.  Like most of the cities in the far north it doesn’t have a natural beach of its own.  It’s built on the back of the mining and military money flowing into the area, and aside from the newly redeveloped waterfront area (known as the Strand) there isn’t much to the place.  Most tourists are only here for one thing - to get out to Magnetic Island just 8 km off shore.  We fit the description and we happily obliged.

Castle Hill from the Ferry

We got off to a bit of a late start, but luckily the ferry ride is just 20 minutes from Townsville and we arrived in no time.  Magnetic Island is quite the idyllic little island getaway - slow-paced and friendly and all that exotic Australia flora and fauna we know and love.  Geographically the island is a bit different from the other islands along the Australian coast, as it’s mainland origin is made pretty clear by the granite formations along the various bays and coast.  It had me thinking I was on the shores of Lake Tahoe as the blue waters shimmered and gently lapped onto the beach from which granite boulder and pine covered headlands stretched out into ocean, embracing a little piece of it to make Alma Bay.  We had a fine spaghetti lunch with some delicious pumpkin sauce in the nearby village before we took the bus to the far eastern end of the island.

Alma Bay

Alma Bay

From the island’s main settlement at Horseshoe Bay we took a hike over a low saddle and down into the remote and wonderful Radical Bay.  Coming down onto the beach felt like something out of a movie, with brilliant blue skies, swaying palms and exotic parrots singing overhead.  There were perhaps less than five people total on this big, quiet, rainforest backed beach and as we laid our towels on the sand under the shade of a nearby tree the sense of relaxation enveloped us and we spent most of the remainder of the day there.  

Approaching paradise

Radical Bay

Radical Bay

 Of course we weren’t able to make our return to the mainland without spotting some wildlife.  As we waited for the bus to take us back to the ferry terminal we caught our first glimpse of rock wallabies in the wild - two hopping across the street and into someone’s yard and another two in an empty lot across from the bus stop grazing at the edge of the forest.  Just another magical day on a magical trip.

Grazing Wallabies